State Privacy and Security Subcontract Opportunities Announced Under Expanded HHS Contract with RTI

May 24, 2006

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today that 22 states and territories have entered subcontracts with RTI International, Inc. (RTI) to address privacy and security policy questions affecting interoperable health information exchange (HIE). Additional states are expected to sign subcontracts within the next two weeks. HHS' Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) jointly manage and fund AHRQ's contract with RTI for this work. Today, the ONC is adding $5.73 million to the existing contract with RTI, bringing its total value to $17.23 million. The additional funding will make it possible to fund all proposals with technical merit, which were submitted in response to a January request for proposals from RTI.

Subcontractors will be working with health care professionals, patients and others in their states and territories to address privacy and security issues and identify solutions for broad application. This will include identifying variations in privacy and security practices and laws affecting electronic clinical HIE; developing best practices and proposed solutions to address identified challenges; and increasing expertise about health information privacy and security protection in communities. The states will also work to develop implementation plans for future HIE activities.

"One of the strongest early lessons we're learning from our research on electronic health information is that some of the main challenges for adoption are not technical issues. Rather, they're issues of inclusion and trust," said AHRQ Director Dr. Carolyn M. Clancy. "This work on privacy and security will leave an indelible mark on the ultimate formulation of a national health information network."

Acting Deputy National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Dr. Karen Bell said, "States and territories have a critical role in working with the health care industry and consumers so that health information continues to be appropriately protected as we move forward into the digital era of medicine. This effort to partner with states and territories will ensure that the health care system serves consumers' needs and meets the President's goal for health information technology."

The RTI contract serves as a broad and critical initiative to enable HIE. Identification of privacy and security issues under this contract with RTI, and the solutions that are ultimately crafted in response to those issues, will provide a foundation for future work by ONC and AHRQ, and facilitate health information exchange across states.

RTI International, a private, nonprofit corporation, awarded the subcontracts under the contract it entered into with AHRQ last September: "Privacy and Security Solutions for Interoperable Health Information Exchange." RTI will work in partnership with the National Governors Association (NGA).

The ONC is tasked with coordinating federal health IT programs across executive branch agencies, as well as coordinating with the private sector on its health IT efforts. Information about the ONC is available at www.hhs.gov/healthit.

AHRQ funds more than 100 projects throughout the nation as part of its $166 million health IT initiative. AHRQ's National Resource Center for Health Information Technology supports this initiative. Information about AHRQ's health IT portfolio is available at healthit.ahrq.gov.

HHS is working to support President Bush's initiative to use health IT to improve the nation's health care system.

The subcontracting states thus far are: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.